Is Buckley coaching better than we think...?

[AN_Inkling]

For me, we've had 4 ticks and one cross this season. If performance is attributed to the coach, then Bucks is doing a pretty good job.

We are certainly competing and looking very organised.

[Adam Treloar 3 Votes]

It doesn’t matter how many games or even premierships we win under Buckley, it is abundantly clear that some people just don’t like him and are just waiting for the next opportunity to bag him. As long as we keep the nutters away from the board and decision making roles in the club then it doesn’t matter.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

[scoobydoo]

[think positive]

Nobody hates him, I’ve never seen anyone say it, really over that comment

[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]

[PyreneesPie]

[Mugwump]

^ Thanks PP. you’ve always been one of the people who got it, and understood that patience and leadership would pay in the end. I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it’s great to think that we may be starting to collect. If - a big IF - Buckley can win a premiership with this side in the next few years it’ll be the sweetest of the three I have seen. It’d be wonderful to see him get the success he deserves.

[Adam Treloar 3 Votes]

^ Amen to that

[swoop42]

I wonder how many of those who were bemoaning the state of our list just a month or two ago were also part of the group who have used this perception to defend Buckley over recent seasons?

For me this is the crux of the endless debate over Buckley and why no clear winner will ever be declared because it all comes down to whether you believe we have under performed or performed to the level of the talent available in recent seasons.

In reality perhaps we have all been right and wrong, with Buckley now a good coach as of last season but one who had a lot more to learn on the job than everyone including himself appreciated at the beginning.

The list to while having genuine top end talent available from the time he took over in 2012 and some prized early draft picks since has for various reasons seemingly not lived up to the potential on paper because of injury, coaching development and disharmony in the early stages of Buckley's tenure.

Suddenly though names like Grundy, Sidebottom, Crisp, Scharenberg, Aish, Thomas, Brown, Murray and Stephenson are either in career best form or young players making a difference to the team compared to last season.

Throw in Adams, de Goey, Maynard, Moore, Elliott, Phillips, Cox, Treloar, Langdon, Crocker and WHE among others and you have plenty of likely best 22 types all capable of potentially being better senior players in coming months than they are right now.

A multitude of players that jump a level in the performance in the one season is generally the key ingredient that suddenly turns a pretender into a contender and it's what helped drive Richmond and the Western Bulldogs to Premiership success.

Buckley himself has talked about coaching being a collective effort in modern day football and with the review we might have delivered the necessary assistant talent that can implement his game plan as desired and provide improved development.

Rightly or wrongly Caracella was given a lot of credit for the success at Richmond last season and perhaps it's Longmuir the coach responsible for our defensive structures who is working wonders also.

Only those inside the club would know whether he acts purely within the structure of Buckley's plan or has been given the green light by the senior coach to implement changes of his own.

Either way it's a tick for Buckley.

Of course with better structures in place it makes it easier to transition the ball because players gain more confidence in there teammates ability to be in the place required to receive or to cover for them if a turnover ensues.

How we transition now also has more focus on handball.

Was this implemented to reduce our exposure to turnovers by scrappy foot skills?

I believe we saw the birth of this shift in play last season but we simply didn't implement it cleanly enough as to often our handballs missed the target, were to a player under immediate pressure, flat footed or simply to close.

This year however we are seeing more handballs to advantage, to players on the move, we are keeping better separation and when under pressure we hit our target more often than not.

This is a big tick for Buckley, the coaching panel and players.

Finally whether it's by our own design trained for over summer, a fortunate side affect of having so many forwards sidelined, the influence of the Richmond brand or all of the above we are now taking a more dynamic approach to our forward line entries and the personnel within, we're lowering our eyes more and becoming far less predictable because of it.

Of course with improved structures and transition should come better forward entries because players have more time and space to weigh up options.

This is a big tick for Buckley, the coaching panel and players also.

It's taken longer than I imagined but we finally look to have a brand, to have real cohesion between our defence, midfield and forward line divisions and are beginning to see the talent on our list shine.

What's that old saying?

Better late than never.

We're back baby.

Go Pies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwmVfewqu7I

[eddiesmith]

I've long felt our list is nowhere near as badly as said, but was used as an excuse for piss poor coaching and lack of game plan.

Maybe this year we have got some good assistants and Bucks has let them change the team for the better, but its a long way to go and we might have to play some decent teams at some stage. Plus we got beaten badly by Hawthorn who are up and down and did our typical strong showing without winning against GWS

[Jezza]

I think a multitude of factors have contributed to our good start.

We didn't make too many list changes in the off-season compared to other years so we have quite a settled list, and the new recruits in Murray and Stephenson have slotted into the team beautifully with their pace which is a deficiency we had for a number of years especially with Nathan Freeman not being able to play due to lengthy injuries in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

There's no doubt that Buckley is a better coach now than he was in 2012. The circumstances of his coaching career were very unconventional and it's something that needs to be taken into account to analyse his tenure, especially as he had not undertaken a proper coaching apprenticeship to begin with, which then forced him to learn on the job. He started his coaching career with a team at the top of the ladder, and a team that had arguably just peaked and was inevitably going to decline which he oversaw for a number of years.

Buckley's first two years as coach was with a list that he inherited from Malthouse and he largely persisted with in the idea that he could snag a flag with them. At the end of 2013, he and others in the club decided that the list in his disposal was not good enough to win a flag and therefore we required a rebuild which has meant four years of no finals. It's had a lot of bumps and doubts along the way, but I'm hoping that we're finally out of the woods and on the way up now.

I admit I was always 50/50 on whether Bucks should have stayed or not at the end of last year, but I admire the club for being ambitious to stick with him when a lot of others would have moved him on. I honestly thought there was a genuine prospect he was gone especially when we were 5 wins and 10 losses and seemingly going nowhere under his coaching leadership.

There's no doubt that the restructuring of his assistants and bringing in new personnel such as Garry Hocking, Justin Longmuir and Matthew Boyd has been massive for the team's fortunes this year and the way we play. It's somewhat similar to how Richmond restructured their football department and brought in new assistants at the end of 2016 to help Hardwick.

I don't think anyone hates Bucks, but there's been rightful criticism that has come his way along the journey. To see this man finally experience a rise with us after many years of decline is something I'm thoroughly enjoying and long may it continue.

[Cam]

It's all about the Ws and Ls and how they come about. One bad L, one good L and two good Ws and one exceptional W is alot better than 0-5. Bucks and friends have got them playing the same tune.

[AN_Inkling]

[RudeBoy]

The past is the past, but right now I'm very disappointed that too few Nicksters are willing to congratulate Bucks on his coaching in 2018.

I've been a consistent supporter of Bucks, because he has always impressed me as being intelligent, honest and straight with people. With Bucks there's no spin or bullshit. He tells it how it is, whether people like it or not. Some in the media and amongst many supporters have found his style dull and boring. I've always found it refreshing and inspirational. But that's me I guess.

The manner of his appointment as coach and the obvious divisions within our club clearly sabotaged his first 2-3 years as coach, and then he had to deal with a combination of continuing instability with a revolving door of heads of our footy department as well as a shocking run with injuries to key players. Finally, in the second half of last year the team began to find its mojo and Bucks now seems to have taken his team to another level altogether.

But regardless of whether you think Bucks was a good or bad coach in previous years, it would be good to see a few more Nicksters give Bucks credit for the great job he is doing so far in 2018.